Valentine's Day with the Virals
by akatsuki15
Summary: The title says it all. Started out as a V-Day fic but it kind of evolved so warnings of language and of veering off topic. No mentions of Cooper or of any other minor characters. Simply, Ben, Tory, Hi and Shelton. One-shot.


Valentine's Day with the Virals

Disclaimer: I do not own Virals. The end.

A/N: I've been reading a lot of Easter and Valentine Fanfics and I figured Virals needed at least one holiday fic, so here ya go.

WARNINGS: MENTIONS OF SUICIDE. If that offends or hits too close to home(I've known someone who chose to end their life) then please don't read this. I want people to laugh not cry. Also I am NOT making fun of monks. If it sounds that way I apologize. MINOR LANGUAGE. I'm not really fond of the F-word so it'll be much tamer than that. And just sarcasm and attitude in general. Oh and rambling.

"What sicko planned Valentine's Day on a Monday, of all days?" I mumbled.

Now I'm not usually a bitter person. I, Tory Brennan, am a firm believer that the brightest smile can light the darkest corner. However this day even I was grumpy. I had no problem with the holiday, sure I didn't have a boyfriend but it didn't necessarily ruin my day. In past years I just went on pretending it was like any other day, which it was if you didn't count all the pink.

Mondays should be like any other day of the week, but they're not. You know that unexplainable joy you feel on a Friday? Well it's the same for Mondays, just replace the joy with dread. Okay I'm being a bit dramatic, and that's not cool. Quite simply I'm saying that I don't want to have to watch a bunch of stuck-up snobs giggle and flirt with the guy I like on a Monday. Especially if that Monday is Valentine's Day.

Alright I know what you're wondering. So I'll just say it. I like Ben Blue. _My _friend that the _Tripod _has suddenly discovered. Guess they needed someone to ogle with Chance gone and Jason just not up to their standards. I would be upset, seeing as how he's _my _crush, but Ben pays them no mind and simply ignores them. Like now for instance.

"Benjamin! Oh Benjamin!" Courtney waved at Ben. Ben in his typical fashion walked right by her without so much as a glance. Courtney wasn't likely to get any response let alone a good one by calling him Benjamin. He continued down the hall and tilted his head my way as he passed by me saying, "Tory if you're done growing roots you're about to be late for class."

I glanced down at my watch and sure enough I had two minutes before the late bell. Oh well my class was close by. I felt Courtney's glare on my back as I walked down the hall and I couldn't help feeling smug. All the times she put me down and now one of my friends miffs her. She needs to be taught a little lesson about karma.

^.^

The rest of the day sort of flowed by; it was a very relaxed Monday. I did receive one gift. A red teddy bear from Jason. At first I tried to give it back but he refused. I felt bad, I know he likes me; he doesn't go to any length to hide his amorous affections for me. I just feel guilty that I can't return his feelings when he's such a nice guy. But it can't be helped when I only have eyes for Ben and his muscular arms.

"Tory! Stop drooling or we'll leave you behind!" Hi yelled. "You can daydream on the boat!"

"I was not daydreaming! I was thinking!" My defense sounded weak even to me. "And I was NOT drooling!"

Hi just smirked but Shelton inquired, "What guy were you thinking about?"

I glared at the pair of them and said, "Who said I was thinking about a guy?"

"Who indeed Shelton? It could just as well be a girl she was fantasizing about." Hi has a death wish. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed.

"And take after your example? I think not."

Hi glared but he was smiling so the effect was ruined. Shelton on the other hand colored a delightful shade of pink. Ben chuckled quietly.

"Well Ben, Tory's here now. Perhaps you'd like to do that thing that we discussed-" Ben shot Hi a harsh glare.

"Not here."

_Okaaaay. That wasn't weird at all._

I tried to look them in their eyes but each on avoided my gaze. Ben most of all.

^.^

Hi and Shelton stepped of the boat but as I moved to do the same a hand dropped to my shoulder. Ben's hand. I looked back and saw his expression. He wasn't. Surely not. Ben Blue was nervous. I was hoping he was nervous because of me. It would make all those weird looks Hi and Shelton gave Ben make sense. Then again I am plagued with horrible insecurity issues. Like every other literary heroine...Sorry what?

"Can I talk to you?"

I brought myself back to the present and nodded.

Hi and Shelton each raised one of their hands and gave Ben a thumbs up when they thought I wasn't looking. _Stupid boys._

They ran way when they saw Ben's glare but it was replaced with a worried look as he turned to me.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I couldn't help but fell a little spark of hope. Whatever we were going to talk about couldn't be said in front of Hi and Shelton. Fool that I am I held my breath.

"Well since you're a nice girl and all I was wondering if you could tell Courtney to back off." _Say what?_

"Courtney and I don't get along too well." I should get a reward for the understatement of the century.

"Exactly."

"But Ben, she hates me. There's no way she's going to listen to me if I tell her you have no interest in her." And it's true too. She would probably just say that I was a jealous hag who was trying to ruin her chances. Little does she know that she doesn't stand a snowball's chance whether or not I have anything to say about it.

"You don't have to mention my abhorrence of her for this to work."

"Oh yeah? How does this work again?"

"Quite simple really. You tell her to back off your guy."

I opened my mouth but no words came out. I closed it and tried to find the right words and couldn't. Finally I settled on this broken chuckle that sounded more like the sound of someone choking. Ben's face had a hit of crimson and for a moment I almost thought he was blushing.

"Tory, I was serious." No. He couldn't be. Because that would just be too painful. To have the guy you like ask you to pretend to be his girlfriend just so another girl would leave him alone was just cruel. What hurt the most was knowing that Ben was not hurting me intentionally. In his mind he was just asking a friend for a favor.

"Sooner or later she's going to find out it's a lie."

Ben quickly shook his head, which made his hair fly into his face. He took a moment to sweep it out of his eyes before he spoke. He seemed flustered, like he couldn't get the words out fast enough.

"It wouldn't be a lie. I mean if that was okay with you, I would certainly prefer it. But is you'd rather not, I mean-"

"Ben," I stepped forward and placed my hand over his mouth to stop his rambling. "Are you asking me to be your girlfriend?"

Only when I heard his mumbled response did I realize that my hand still covered his mouth. I quickly removed my hand and waited to hear what he had to say.

"Took you long enough to figure it out."

"That's not an answer Ben." Well not _technically. _Like I was going to make it easy for him. I wasn't torturing him, I was just asking for a clarification. Totally innocent and harmless. Yeah that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

"Okay fine. Will you be my girlfriend?" The words were spoken casually but he stared into my eyes as he said them and I saw how much my answer really meant to him.

"Surely you can do better than that."

"Please oh please be mine? Will you be my valentine Tory? Will you protect me from creepy fan girl stalkers?" Last time I checked there was only one and she hadn't _quite _reached stalker material yet. Then again stalkers have to start out somewhere. Kind of like how serial killers start off by torturing small animals as children. Then again being a fan girl isn't so bad. There are plenty of things to obsess over in life. Chocolate is a common one and so is coffee. Movie stars and fictional characters. Tanning and dieting. The list goes on and on. Some obsessions can't quite be considered healthy. And obsessing over someone who is _clearly _not into you and.. and I'm going to stop while I'm ahead.

Back to the topic at hand, Ben was staring at me expectantly. I thought over his choice of words. His tone of voice was loaded with sarcasm but it was definitely a unique pick up line. Not that I really had to mull over it. I already knew my answer.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated. Leave the fan girls alone. They've done nothing to you-"

"Yet."

"Stop whining."

"Was that your way of saying yes?" _Thatta boy._ Read between the lines. No girl is completely straight forward. Honest? Yes. Brutally blunt? Not so much. Although there _are_ a few exceptions.

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes!"

Now I know what you are thinking. This is the part where he says something incredibly sweet and I jump into his arms and we spin around til we fall into the sand because we've been magically transported to a beach in the Caribbean. This is where I have to burst your bubble. This isn't a romantic comedy and Ben isn't Ashton Kutcher. This isn't _Jumper _and while we can occasionally hear the others thoughts we can't teleport. _At least I don't think so..._

In reality Ben grinned and reached for my hand. We walked down the beach holding hands. Until Hi and Shelton jumped out of nowhere AKA some mildly imposing sand dune, and thumped Ben on the back.

"It's about time short bus!" That would of course be Hi, but I don't think I need to tell you that. The guy stands out in any crowd. Even in New York. But alas that's another story...

"Hiram!" I did my best to sound threatening but I guess I fell short because...

"Uh oh. Tory's using the mom voice. Run away!" Hi waved his hands in the air and opened his mouth in mock terror.

Fine. Round two.

"You want something to really be scared of?"

"Like a man dressed in a skirt?" Bad mental imagery there. Sometimes I feel cursed by my imagination. I bet you do too. I mean picture some guy whose five foot two, and weighs about two hundred pounds, in a purple mini skirt with unshaven legs. Toss in stringy platinum blonde hair and a tight low cut shirt that shows off his paunch and chest hair. Yeah I cringed too. Lets take it a step further and picture him in makeup. Eyeshadow that matches the skirt, mascara, eyeliner, blush, and lip gloss. Yeah I went there. Now try going back to eating your food.

"I'm serious."

"So am I. He didn't even bother to shave his legs." There's that picture again.

"Hi!"

"It was a mini skirt for God's sake!" Sound familiar?

Shelton had a bemused expression on his face and Ben laughed out right. While Hi's earnest facial expression looked a little too innocent and normally I would have been laughing right along with the guys, I was closer to gagging.

"Okay Hi. Where did you see this effeminate man?" Might be a good idea to put this topic in the grave and bury it as soon as possible. I do not want to spew chunks in front of my boyfriend. Especially when we've only been dating for an hour.

"That's a nice way to put it." _Please _get to the point already. Is it just me or do people of the male gender take _forever _to get to the point?

"Where Hi?"

"You know. That place." Not that I'm _impatient or anything. _

"What place?"

"Your place!" Ah the punchline. Hi's humor never fails to pop up. It can even make an appearance at a funeral. The odd thing is that he wasn't trying to be funny. "Goodbye Uncle Walt. Nice knowing ya." He tried to play off his shock when everyone chuckled. It wasn't that his wording was amusing but with the thick country accent coupled with his uncle's fascination of cowboys it was good for a laugh.

"Oh hardy har har. That the best you can come up with?"

"Going this long without a sugar rush? Yeah." Sugar and caffeine should be banned from some people. Hi's one of those people. Unfortunately that extends to me as well.

"Hi?" Ben looked at Hi. Hi looked at Ben.

"Yes Ben?" Hi's voice sounded innocent and carefree. While his stance spoke of his uncertainty, as though he had taken his joke a bit too far. Which wasn't such a big deal, but I enjoyed watching him squirm.

"Shut up."

And oddly enough, he did. For about two seconds. Maybe he _did_ have a bit of sugar.

"So Tory. Did you watch the _Wolfman_ one too many times as a kid or what? Cause the growth on your legs has to have some kind of reasonable explanation." Not only did he compare me to a human-beast creature but he compared me to a _man_-beast!

"Hi!"

"I'm just trying to satisfy my innocent curiosity." It wasn't remotely believable nor was it meant to be.

"The term 'innocent' does not belong in the same sentence as you. They wouldn't even be in the same paragraph if it was up to me."

"Don't blame me. I'm just following the script."

"Can't you ad-lib?"

"No, the writer is a slave driving imperialistic demoness!" He didn't mean it...at least I hope so for his sake.

Thunder crackles ominously in the background.

"I mean a sweet southern girl who would melt in the rain."

"What was that about Hi?" Shelton asked. The guy may be brilliant but he is completely ignorant of that which controls our lives. Like a god or goddess is to a civilization an author is to us. We tap dance to their beat.

"I'm not repeating myself." I wouldn't either. Some secrets are meant to be kept. The witness protection agency wouldn't be able to save him if he spilled those beans.

"Why?" Ben questioned.

"I don't want to die."

Shelton jumped back into the discussion, "Why would you die? You're not sick." A pause, "Are you?"

"I didn't say it would be an accident. Some authors just love writing Apocalypse stories. She would kill me in a heart beat."

"Are you talking to yourself again?" Ben asked. I wondered when Hi had done it the first time.

"No. The little voice in my head is telling me what to do."

"Don't listen to it." Shelton looked sincere. As if he was trying to talk someone away from a cliff's edge.

"Her."

"What?"

"Her. The voice is a girl." I couldn't help myself; I cracked a smile. Shelton's glare only made my smile spread into a grin.

"Okay...Don't listen to her then." Even Ben couldn't hold a somber expression. It was a little mean how Hi was teasing Shelton. We follow a script not telepathic messages.

"But I have too."

"Why?"

"Because she said too."

"Did this voice say who she was?"Sometimes I wonder if Shelton can sense sarcasm. Most teenagers these days are good at it. Shelton seems like one of the few who have actually retained a child-like naivete.

"The writer."

"What writer?"

"You know the one who borrowed us from Kathy."

"Who is Kathy?" A bestselling author that's who.

"You poor deprived child." Hi shook his head and wore a pitying expression as he spoke.

A flash of annoyance crossed Shelton's face. "Excuse me?"

"Look there goes Robin Hood!" Hi's head swiveled so fast I wondered if he would have a crick tomorrow. As he pointed off to something in the distance Shelton squinted his eyes and searched for something Hi could have mistaken for a Disney character.

"Say what? Are you sure you aren't hallucinating? I know this isn't a desert but it's fairly hot out here and there _is _a lot of sand."

Hi mumbled something that sounded like, "Random subject change. Works every time."

"Did you say something?" Shelton looked over to ask Hi.

"No..."Hi looked down, unable to meet Shelton's steady gaze.

Shelton tilted his head to the side just so. "Sure?"

"Pretty sure." He drew out 'pretty' so that it sounded more like 'preeetty' as if he was talking to a child.

"Cause you're not acting like you're sure." Shelton looked askance at Hi. He showed no reaction to Hi's choice of words or tone at all.

"How do I act when I'm sure?"

"All controlling and aggressive and bossy." Shelton smirked. Wait-_Shelton _smirked? What is wrong with this world?

"Are we talking about the same thing?"

"Probably not."

"Okay just so we're on the same page, what were you referring to?"

Adopting a calm expression Shelton spoke in a reverent tone, "Life." If I had to compare him to something in that moment, it would be to a monk. Although I don't think he would set himself on fire no matter how desolate things seemed. People say that suicide is a sign of a weak mind. I disagree. It may sound easy to simply pull a trigger to end life as you know it but I doubt the average person could light themselves on fire and not scream bloody murder. I myself am a crybaby.

"Life?" Hi looked doubtful.

"Life." Shelton looked confident.

"How can life be the answer?"

"It's not." Shelton looked at Hi; Hi just looked confused.

"Oh. Good. So what is the answer?"

"42."

"Say what?"

"The answer to the ultimate question."

"What's the ultimate question?"

"I don't know yet. The mice are working on it."

"What mice?"

"You know. The ones Douglas Adams hired." Shelton had this dazed look on his face. One you would normally see on a religious fanatic's face, so I can only presume that this man was one to revere. From what I understand this Adams fellow was to science fiction what J.K. Rowling was to fantasy.

"Whose he?" Shelton gave Hi _The Look _as he held up a book. (For those who don't know: _The Look _is a look of contempt and dismay that simply says 'Oh my God, on what planet (or medicine) have _you_ been on?)The title of Shelton's book read: _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_. Hi squinted at the title and then dismissed it entirely.

"Your education is severely lacking. Honestly I don't know how you still function." Shelton shook his head as he put his book up. From my vantage point I could see the corner of a blue towel sticking out of his bag. This normally wouldn't have been unusual considering we're on a beach but it wasn't a _beach _towel. It was just a regular towel that looked to be some faded shade of blue. Well we all have our little quirks.

"Breathing, sleeping, eating. It all works out."

"In some mediocre existence sure."

"Shelton are you sulking?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Hi once again drew the word out to sound as if he were talking to a toddler. His tone of voice one you would think to hear from a psychologist or a younger sibling.

"Yeah..." It was spoken as if he, himself was unsure if it was a question or a statement.

"How can you be sure?"

"Well when you know, you know." Shelton shrugged his shoulders, gaze wandering over the ocean to the setting sun. We had all been standing out here for quite a while.

"Isn't that what they say about marriages?" Immediately that scene from _Elizabethtown _popped into my head. Where Kristen Dunst and Orlando Bloom's characters are talking about who exactly 'they' are. Sometimes you have to wonder where certain sayings originated from and who said it first. For all we know we could me quoting some opium smoking china man who has been dead for a thousand years when we say 'it's raining cats and dogs' because who imagines cats and dogs falling from the sky?

"Well yeah."

"So if all those people knew then why are they getting divorced?"

"They don't know anymore." Or never did in the first place. This is the United States of America after all.

"What don't they know?" I asked, curious to see how far Hi would take this.

"That they know."

"I'm sure it's more complicated than that."

"Sure it is. Division of marital property, custody battles, child support...the works." We could all see that Hi was joking but I am under the impression that Ben's parents are going through a rather nasty divorce and I suppose he couldn't help but take Hi's sarcastic humor a little too close to heart.

"Try affairs and work obsession." Somehow with five words I discovered everything about Ben's home life without ever having a heart to heart with him. Ben's father drives the ferry and I don't imagine that as something that could require extensive amounts of time. But I was unsure of Ben's mother's profession. I will be the first to admit that I am nosy. If something is none of my business I stick around until it is. If I had to hazard a guess I would say that Ben's mother was the one with the work obsession. But which one would have an affair? Mr. Blue attempting to strike back at his neglectful wife or Mrs. Blue bored with her current style of life? Perhaps both?

"Try freedom and commitment." Those are kind of polar opposites but okay. I wasn't really sure if Hi should argue this topic with Ben.

"Hi, don't you think that this subject is a little inappropriate consider-" I was cut off by Ben's next words.

"Betrayal and heartbreak." Ben's face might as well have been set in stone for all that it gave away.

"Dedication and work ethnic."

"Thick skulls and stubborn hides."

"Stop it guys! There's no point!" Glad to see someone has some sense. Even if they ignore Shelton as well as me. Perhaps there are some who are immune to testosterone surges.

"Now listen here little boy-"

"Little?"

"You_ are_ the shortest one here."

"And?"

"And that's all there is to it."

"To what?"

"Are you deaf?"

"No. Are you blind?" A little ironic...considering Shelton wears glasses.

"No, but I wish you were mute." Good to see that Hi is the same as always.

"We don't always get what we want." Seeing as how this could go on forever I took the opportunity to tug on Ben's sleeve. As Shelton and Hi continued to argue we slipped out of sight. But not out of hearing range.

"You do if you're a multimillionaire."

"Billionaires take precedence over them." One-upping Shelton? Really? I never want to hear you say you want to be a psychologist again if you can't even diagnose yourself.

"Where are Ben and Tory?" Shelton changed the subject. Can't blame him. He could spend an entire day arguing with Hi and never make any headway. He really should have joined the debate team.

"Sneaking into a janitors closet." Ben moved to stand up from where we were crouched but I tugged him back down. He could defend my honor some other time. This isn't medieval Scotland after all.

"We're not at school though."

"That is fairly obvious Shelton."

"Oh."I peered around the sand dune in time to see Shelton smirk and to hear Hi chuckle.

**^.^**

"They're still not back yet." Some people have no patience. I had just run home to get a few things. Crow bar, rope, and a few other necessities.

"They probably went home."

"Then why are we still out here?" For once Shelton seemed genuinely irritated. I don't see why. It's only 93 degrees outside and he's standing on a beach.

"Nothing better to do. Besides my spidey sense is telling me that Tory should find someway to get us arrested right about-" I jumped out from behind the dune, dragging Ben along.

"Hi! Shelton! We've got to go!"

"Right on time." It was said low but I heard it. Shelton noticed my glare and stepped back from Hi. Smart. No reason to stand in the line of fire.

"Where to Tory?" Ben's obvious attempt to defuse the situation was welcome. It also gave me the set up to get straight to the point.

"Well there was this bank robbery down on 27th street and they hacked into the computers mainstream and-"

"We have to somehow find armed robbers that even the police can't locate." Even after all this time Hi's sarcasm is NOT appreciated.

"No." I crossed my arms and did my best to look smug. Shelton looked amused and Ben raised his eyebrows.

"Then what do we have to do?" The question came from Shelton but I could see that all the guys were curious. And expectant.

"Well we have to find the robbers. You were right about that." I gave Hi his moment to look smug. "But they weren't armed." Ben smirked as Hi threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Then how did they rob the bank?" Shelton sounded bewildered. Somehow I don't think this is the norm for him.

"This isn't a western movie Shelton. They slipped in after hours and disabled the cameras. They left no evidence or trace DNA." Hi looked at Shelton with a look that said _and you they say you're smart? _

"Then how are WE supposed to find them?" I noticed that all three of them were staring at me. It was obvious they thought I was bluffing. And maybe next time they'd be right, but this time I had them over a barrel. _Suckers... _

"Smell."

"Smell?" Hi studied me curiously while Shelton openly gaped. Ben just raised his eyebrows.

"Smell." The police has dogs that are trained to track things down. The only problem being that they are usually specifically trained to sniff out drugs. I was hoping that if we all flared one of us might be able to distinguish a specific scent and that it would lead us straight to the criminals.

"Do I look like a dog to you?"

"No but you whine like one."

"Arooooooo-"

"Shut up Hi!"

"As you were saying?"

"We go to the bank and we sniff around."

"Do you have any idea how weird that is going to look? They're going to think we're on cocaine!"

"It's not like you're going to have to stick you're nose to the floor."

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

"Well I'll start us off and then make you guys flare." I've done it before and they'd better believe I will do it again. They have absolutely no say in the matter.

"And if we say no?" Of course Hi would be the one to question my authority. He is one of my best friends but sometimes I would honestly love to wring his neck. Pfft. Boys.

"You're not going to."

"Why do you say that?" Why _did _I say that? Oh, yeah...

"Because if you do Hi, I'll tell your mother about that girl in your history class." Now this actually _was _a bluff. So I was rather shocked when his face turned crimson.

"You wouldn't." I would be surprised if he could see me through his squinting eyes. I think he was aiming for a glare...but honestly? He just looked constipated. If I hadn't just had lunch a few hours ago it would have been funny.

"Oh I would. You know you're not supposed to date before you're thirty right?"

"That's marriage. And my mother was just joking about that." _Sure she was. _

"Was she?" Ben and Shelton seemed very amused by our exchange. They kept looking back and forth between us as if it was a tennis match.

"..."

"She's got you there Hi."Ben smirked as Hi gazed at me with a shrewd expression.

"What's to stop _me_ Tory?" _What indeed? _Shelton's parents are more easygoing than Hi's mom. Although...most parents are in comparison to _her. _

"Shelton, I will sneak into your room and cut your Ethernet cord." His face paled a bit at that. It's not like it couldn't be replaced but that would involve going to the mainland. Once again no big deal but he would still be without internet for a day at least and then there was no guarantee that I wouldn't cut that one too. He could probably say that the old one was chewed on by a rat but he couldn't very well do that with the second one as well and hope to explain how a rat managed to chew completely through wires twice with dying.

"And me?"

"I'll break up with you." _So full of it...and yet...maybe..._

"We all know that's not going to happen." _Or maybe not...whatever._

"Not forever but maybe a day or two." Or maybe a minute, but then again time is relative right?

"Yeah right." Ben scoffed. Actually _scoffed._ At _Me! _ME! Like I said: Cry. Baby.

"Is that a challenge?" _The heroine says through tear filled eyes as she gazes up at her one true love-_

"NO!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Someone's on a short leash!" Don't you just love dog references? If Ben glared any harder Hi would have a heart-attack. I wonder if that really happened could you be charged with first degree murder? Probably not but still worth looking into. Heh. Medusa was a serial killer. _Well they do say that the Greeks and Romans invented the basis of pretty much everything. Why not the mold for modern day murderers? _

"Like your brain?"

"That almost quite didn't make sense."

"Well that certainly didn't help."

"Can we get back to the task at hand?" Okay so it was a mood killer, so what? This is an actual crime we're talking about. I know most girls dream of candy and boyfriends on Valentine's day, I dream of solving mysteries and uncovering truths. Okay that's a lie. I'm just like other girls. But I really do want to solve this theft.

"What can we do Tory? The bank is already close at this hour."

"Did Shelton not break into a high security lab?" Sure it took him a few tries but practice does make perfect. Or at least doable.

"We knew the layout of all the systems. We had a stone cold alibi in case we got caught."

"We didn't get caught then and we won't get caught now."

"I wish I was that confident."

"Grow a vagina and maybe you will be."

"Hiram!" My shout was accompanied by a shot to his head. Shame the bastard dodged to the side at the last possible moment. I tried to launch a kick to his stomach after that but Ben wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me back into his embrace.

"Shh. He's just blowing smoke." I felt myself relax in his hold as he whispered the words so softly that only I could hear.

"I'm just saying! Girls always think they're right and if anybody disagrees with them...there is bloodshed." I felt my body tense up again as the urge to hit Hi upside the head returned full force. As it was I barely managed to growl my next words.

"I am not some arrogant egotistical male!"

"You're right. You're a stubborn hard headed female!" _Aren't we all? _But still...I can't expect to retain anyone's respect if I take that lying down. Right?

"You lowdown son of a-"

"TORY!" Shelton broke into the conversation wearing a chastising expression. What he was doing looking at me that way I do not know...

"I was going to say dog. Son of a dog." And cats bark.

"You were not!" Shelton's remark was joined with an indignant snort.

"Was too!" _Stick to your guns girl. _

"Right." Does _nobody _believe me anymore? Not that their distrust isn't justified. Far from it.

"Well since you interrupted me I guess we'll never know." Take that! I alwaysget the last word. _Always. _Okay well sometimes...

"So about that bank..."

"Ben do you even know what you're getting into?" I shocked _myself _with this question, but my doubts and nagging little insecurities were put to rest when he turned those gorgeous _twinkling _eyes on me.

"I have a fairly good idea."

He was leaning closer and closer and then suddenly we were kissing. Now I'm not going to say it was the best kiss in the world, but for our first it was pretty good. And I knew they were only going to get better. After that I wasn't thinking much of anything nor was I listening to hear the next part of Hi and Shelton's conversation.

"Why do they have to do that here?"

"Nature."

"Excuse me?"

"It's a biological drive."

"drive to do what?"

"Ensure there's a new generation."

"Oh my God. What is wrong with you today?"

"I discovered girls."

"Hi..."

"My mind's in the gutter okay?"

"Try sewer. The gutter isn't dirty enough."

"It's where the clown hid."

"Say what."

"Movie reference. Never mind."

"So weird."

"I wear floral print shirts. What do you expect?"

"Intelligent conversation."

"Ben's not exactly conversing with Tory right now."

"You have a point."

"But he is using that tongue of his for other things."

"Hi!"

A/N: I wasn't sure where to end this. It was supposed to be a Valentine one shot but it just kept going on...19 pages...second of all: it's been a while since I read the book so I couldn't remember if Shelton wore glasses or not. But lets say for this story he does. I feel like I should have cut the story up but for now I'll leave it as so.

If there was something you didn't like about it you can leave it in a review or send me a message. Either way feedback helps.


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